1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to agricultural equipment and more specifically to bale wagons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the trend in farming practices towards increased mechanisation, the automatic bale wagon, such as the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,442 and Canadian Pat. No. 902,003 has been gaining in acceptance as an essential farm implement. In these bale wagons, bales are loaded onto a first receiving table which sequentially moves two or more bales in end-to-end relationship onto a second transfer table, whereupon a tier of bales is accumulated. When a full complement of bales for a tier has been loaded upon the second transfer table, the latter is elevated from a somewhat horizontal position to a substantial vertical position to dispose the tier of bales either against a rolling rack upon a load bed of wagon or against the forward face of a previously deposited tier of bales. All operations of the various receiving and transfer tables, rolling rack and final unloading of the load bed are accomplished by hydraulic means and associated fluid circuits and control valves which are operated by appropriate cams, trip members and other means such as described in detail in the aforementioned patent specification.
After accumulating successive bale tiers to form a completed bale stack on the load bed, the bale stack may be transported to a desired location for discharge from the wagon in a composite stack. Bale wagons have now evolved to the point where not only can they pick up individual bales in the field and stack them or retrieve an entire stack, but they are also able automatically to unload the wagon one bale at a time.
Bale wagons of the types hereinbefore described are generally satisfactory when operating in generally flat fields. However, when using these bale wagons in hilly conditions, certain problems are encountered. One problem occurs when operating on slopes transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bale wagon. Bales loaded on the first receiving table occasionally move too far to the one or other side. This movement often occurs during the transfer of the bales from the first receiving table to the second transfer table, whereby bales may either fall onto the ground or may become arranged in an irregular or loose tier on the transfer table. An irregular or loose tier may result in bales falling onto the ground as soon as the second transfer table starts cycling. Even if no bales fall to the ground, other problems may be encountered; for example an irregular and loose pattern on the second transfer table will result in an unstable load on the load rack which in turn results in unstable stacks in the case of a stacking wagon. Also, bales in the front tier of the stack on the load bed may tend to fall back on the second transfer table, thereby disturbing the entire automatic loading operation. In the case of a bale wagon comprising a bale-by-bale unloading mechanism, similar problems may occur during the unloading process.
When the bale wagon is operated on an upward incline, then the bales which are transferred from the first receiving table onto the second transfer table have a tendency either to roll or slide rearwardly on the second transfer table. This results, of course, in an irregular tier and a disturbance of the automatic operation of the wagon as the second table strip member may be actuated prematurely. The operator then has to stop the wagon when this occurs and unload the irregular tier manually and re-arrange the bales on the second transfer table.